


The Turtle Mystery

by pulangaraw



Category: due South
Genre: Future Fic, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-02-25
Updated: 2009-02-25
Packaged: 2017-10-02 05:50:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pulangaraw/pseuds/pulangaraw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Turtle goes missing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Turtle Mystery

**Author's Note:**

> This was written to go with alyburns' _SGA_ story "Christmas Bundling" (LJ post), wherein John and Rodney are in Canada and get stuck in a snowbank and 'figure some things out' while waiting to be rescued. There was a dS homage in there (the accident was caused by a turtle) and I couldn't resist making it a bit more obvious.

“Ben, have you seen Turtle?” Ray called from the living room.

Fraser sighed quietly and put the last dish down. “No, Ray, I haven't seen him. Maybe he's hiding near the fireplace again. He seems to like that warm spot at the left side of-”

“He's not there,” Ray interrupted him.

Fraser dried his hands and went to join Ray. “Are you sure he's not around somewhere? Maybe underneath the sofa?”

“Ben, I'm not stupid. I've looked everywhere, he's gone.” Ray frowned and nervously twisted his fingers together.

Ben didn't like seeing Ray worried. He went over to the turtle tank and inspected it. Then he started looking into all of Turtle's usual hiding spots. Finally, “Mmh,” he said and faced Ray again who had been watching him apprehensively.

“Mmh? Mmh, what?”

“It appears that Turtle has vanished.”

“Turtles don't vanish. He's gotta be somewhere.” Ray raked a hand through his hair and looked around the room.

Fraser thought back over their day. Eventually he said, “Well... there's one possibility...”

“Yes? Out with it.”

“You remember last night, when I came home from work and-”

“What does us having sex on the sofa have to do with my missing turtle?” Ray interrupted.

“If you would let me finish, Ray, I could explain.”

Ray waved his hands impatiently, “Get to the point, then.”

“Very well. You might recall, Ray, that as soon as I entered the room, you took off my jacket and – ah...” Fraser trailed off, embarrassed.

Ray raised his eyebrows.

“Anyway, my jacket remained on the floor for most of the night. And I had some pemmican in my outer pocket. You know how Turtle likes pemmican-”

“Mystery of the ages,” Ray muttered.

“I believe it is the mixture of-”

“Fraser.”

“Yes, right. What I was trying to explain is – Turtle might have gotten into the pocket overnight, without one of us noticing it. And when I went out this morning – well, I told you about the unfortunate incident with the fake beaver.”

“Yes, you did. What's your point.”

“My point is that I believe it might be possible – er, that Turtle fell out of the pocket and-”

“Are you trying to tell me my turtle is out there somewhere, in the snow?! Without protection. In the freezing-your-ass-off Canadian winter?”

“It is a likely possibility,” Fraser admitted.

Ray was already reaching for his coat and hat. “That's it, Ben. We're going out now. And we're not coming back until we've found him. Is that clear?”

“I absolutely agree, Ray. May I suggest to take Macdonald with us. He might be able to help us track Turtle down.”

Ray just nodded and headed out the door. Fraser called Macdonald from his resting place by the fire and followed him outside.  
###  
Ten minutes later Ray's voice rang out to Fraser who was searching down the left side of the road, a bit behind where Ray was making slow progress on the right side. “Ben! Ben, I found him! I... You better get over here.”

Fraser sped up and a few seconds later he saw what Ray meant. There was a car, just off the road, jammed in between a tree and a snow bank. The track marks, just about visible in the fading light, indicated that the car had tried to avoid something and slid of the road.

“We gotta see if there's someone in there. They might be hurt.” Ray said, cradling Turtle against his chest.

Fraser nodded and stepped closer to peer through the rear window. There seemed to be someone inside. One... no, two people and they were...

“Oh, dear.” Fraser stepped backwards.

“What?” Ray asked, worried. “Someone in there? Are they hurt?”

Fraser shook his head.

“Dead?”

Fraser shook his head again.

“Fraser, what?” Ray stepped forward to peer into the car himself.

“What... oh, right... uhm,” he turned to Fraser, a grin spreading over his face. “Maybe we should give them another couple minutes. They don't seem to be in a hurry to be rescued. Whaddaya think, Ben?”

Fraser nodded. “I agree. I'll call in the accident and then we'll wait for the tow truck to arrive. No need to disturb them before it is absolutely necessary. How is Turtle doing?”

Ray looked into his jacket, where he'd stuffed Turtle to keep him warm. “He's fine. A bit of warmth, maybe some more pemmican and he'll be his old self.”

“Very good. All's well, then,” Fraser smiled.


End file.
